What was I thinking?
Letting Liam in, signaled an open invitation to his entire crew. They didn't even bother waiting for us to move out of the way. I stood, flabbergasted as they pushed past Liam and me into the front hall, and then down into the kitchen. At least their rude manners knocked me temporarily out of my trance with Liam.
Byron and Steve had made themselves at home, perched on the kitchen counter. They fiddled with Dad's little bird carvings that lined the sink, while the twins disappeared into the house. For all I knew, they had planned to rob the joint.
Steve picked up a pair of binoculars Dad dumped by the flour jar and peered through. "I see you." He chuckled, aiming them at his friend.
"Give me those." I stomped over, swiping them from Steve. "Those are my Dad's."
"What's with all the bird stuff?" Byron asked, as he shook a wooden house finch as if it might release salt.
My cheeks burned, which almost annoyed me more then them being there. I didn't want to care what they thought, but I had to admit, the bird thing embarrassed me a little. "My Dad likes birds, okay? It's his hobby. It's none of your business. Just leave his stuff alone."
"Fine, fine," Byron said, putting it down.
"Alright guys. We're not here to trash Charlotte's house. Don't touch her things." The sound of Liam's voice beside me almost sent me back into that swirling state where everything but him disappeared, but I grounded myself, and focused on the others.
Eldridge immerged from somewhere in the back of the house and plopped himself down on the couch in the connecting open living room. He fumbled with the remote until he flicked the TV on and found a sports channel. Flynt still remained MIA, until his head arose from behind the door of the fridge.
"Anyone want something to eat?"
"What? No. What are you doing?" I said.
Flynt tossed some lunchmeat and a liter of soda across the kitchen to where his twin sat perched on my parent's russet and cream couch. It had been pretty at my old house, but now it clashed terribly against the bright 70's style wallpaper adorning the room. I assumed when Mom got out here, she'd take it down. I hoped. Somehow Eldridge caught the food before it went crashing through the large paned window behind him.
"I said to leave her stuff alone." Liam brushed passed me to the living room, retrieved the food, and then put it on the counter in front of me. "Sorry. They're good guys, just as little rough around the edges."
You don't say.
I began to feel ill. What had I gotten myself into?
"Speak for yourself, Liam," Byron said from where he sat on the kitchen counter. Steve smiled as he swung his legs from the ledge.
"Shut up," Liam said with a grin. He shook his head and then lowered his chin, flicking his eyes up to stare the two guys down. Steve and Byron chuckled and I thought I saw light flicker behind their gazes. Both leaned forward from where they sat on the counter, their hands fisting the smooth granite edge.
A low reverberating sound, startlingly similar to one I heard come from Byron earlier in the cafeteria, rumbled from deep in Liam's chest. I jumped, stumbling back, when Ty scooted her tiny frame through the small opening between Liam and me.
"Dishes," she said, before I could even get my thoughts together. Had she heard that? She loudly collected the small glass bowls with the globs of melted ice cream in them and placed them in the sink. It didn't appear so. Had I imagined it? No. Not twice. I couldn't have. Could I? "Anything else you want washed, Charlotte?"
"Um...no, thanks. I'm good," I said as if speaking through milk.
Byron handed her two spoons sitting next to him. "Thanks." She gave him a sunny smile.
"No problem."
Eldridge stole my attention from Ty and Byron when he called from the other room. "Who wants to order a pizza?" His attention remained fastened to the television, completely oblivious to anything going on in the kitchen. He reminded me of Dad when he watched a game. An explosion could go off and he wouldn't hear it.
"No pizza. You're not staying here. This is not some kind of party. Besides, I don't think they deliver this far out." Maybe living in the middle of nowhere did have its perks. My anxiety level had reached an all-time high. If Dad found out I had boys here, I'd be grounded for a month.
"Ah, come on," Steve said. "I'm starving. We're starving, aren't we Byron?" He elbowed the big guy in the ribs. Byron didn't respond. "Byron?" Steve turned to his friend. "Are you washing dishes?"
"Leave me alone."
"I'll go in on a pizza," Flynt said with a grin.
"Did anybody hear me? No," I said. "No pizza. Liam, tell them no pizza. You guys are just stopping in. You can't stay here."
"You heard Charlotte," Liam said. He stepped towards the counter, but as he did, the edge of his shoulder brushed up against my arm making my breath catch. Glancing down, I saw his fingers reach for my hand.
Focus. Focus. The guy just growled!
His fingers slipped between mine and he squeezed them gently. Despite my protests, my arm felt on fire.
He paused before taking another step. He squeezed his eyes shut and his facial muscles twisted as he appeared to struggle with something. I could feel a low tremor in his fingertips.
"Liam?" I asked. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said too quickly for me to believe. His fingers stilled inside mine and his composure softened. "No pizza," he said to the others and gave me a wink. "What is it with your stomachs anyway? Is that all you guys think about?"
"Pretty much," Steve said, stretching his arms over his head. "You don't think this buff physique comes from nothing do ya?"
"Dude, all the protein in the world won't help you there," Flynt said with a laugh. He flicked Steve with his fingers as he walked by to join his brother in the living room.
"Ow." Steve whined, rubbing his arm.
"So do you like it here?" Liam asked, ignoring them.
"What? I mean, here?" I jumbled my words like an idiot.
Really cool.
I chalked it up to so much going on at once.
"It's okay," I said, pleased that my words came out coherently. "Maplefield's nice. I definitely have met some interesting people here."
Liam led me out past the kitchen area into the living room. "Nice house," he said with an approving nod.
I shrugged. "It's a little big. You know, for three people. My mom's coming out here in about a month. My Dad got the job at the hospital, but she has to finish up a contract..." Liam started for the dinning room and I tugged him back by his hand. "Don't go in there. It's messy. Trust me. You really don't want to see that. We did just move here. Remember?"
I shouldn't have said anything. A mischievous grin rose across his face and he started to tug me towards the door.
"Ooh, let's see what we've got in here."
I tried to protest, pulling back on his arm. "Liam, no. I mean it."
"Oh, yeah?" The grin grew and I forced my best scowl.
"I swear, Liam. This is my house with my rules. You are not going in there."
I pushed all my weight onto the back of my legs and leaned in the opposite direction, but it was no use. He easily dragged me lightly by my arm.
"Not alone. No. You're coming with me," he said.
He tickled me under my arm, making me drop to the floor.
"No. You can't make me."
His fingers moved across my ribs, making me laugh despite myself. Knowing the others watched embarrassed me. Gritting my teeth, I pushed through the onslaught of tickles, and scrambled away.
I stood up and crossed my arms around my chest. "I am not moving one more inch. You can't make me."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Why? What are you going to do?"
I should have known better.
I screamed as Liam grabbed me, lifting me up over his shoulder. "Put me down. I swear, I'm going to kill you."
Everyone stared, but Liam quickly twirled me around and opened up the sliding door to the dining room. Once inside, he kicked it closed. "Wow, you weren't kidding. This place is a mess."
"I told you." I groaned. "Can I get down now?"
"I don't know," he said, pausing as if he actually had to consider this. "I kind of like you up here."
"Liam!"
He chuckled and then carefully placed me down on top of a large moving box.
"I can't believe you just did that," I said. My temper flickered.
Liam ignored my comment. "You guys have a lot of unpacking to do."
Heaps of various boxes and furniture lay haphazardly around the room. Some half opened, some not. Clothes littered the dining room table, the only thing resembling the actual use of the room. A good thirty or so books had fallen out of the container they had come in, the beige rug now littered with a thin line of dust and pages.
"You don't say." I groaned and rolled my eyes. "It's not like my dad's the quickest un-packer and I do have school. Honestly, I'm surprised we pulled off a decent kitchen this soon." I didn't add the fact that the kitchen had been my doing. I just couldn't stand searching for dishes to eat off of out the dirty boxes.
"Are these pictures?" Liam picked up an old photo album off the floor. My face went hot. A room heaped in a mess of everything known to mankind and he finds that. Go figure.
"Give me that." I grabbed the large leather book from him.
"Oh, come on. I want to see."
I stood on the box, holding the album away as I stared back at him. A wisp of his musky scent filled my nose and a strange urge to run my fingers through his hair engulfed me. I inwardly screamed.
"I told you I wanted to get to know you."
"Yeah, you did." I gave up and joined him, sitting down on the edge of the box. "Go ahead," I said, handing over the album.
He hesitated and I nodded for him to go on. "Oh god," I said, my hand clamping down over the picture the moment Liam opened the thick leather cover. "I forgot this was in here. This is so embarrassing."
Liam chuckled and removed my hand to reveal a picture of a six year old me singing show tunes in a hot pink tutu. I buried my face in my arm. My cheeks probably matched the color of the ridiculous outfit.
"You like to sing?"
"Kind of," I said, guarded.
"Do you still sing? What kind of songs do you sing?"
"I do." I shrugged, half waiting for him to make fun of me, but he didn't. "At my last school I was in the choir. Now I just mostly sing in the shower." He didn't laugh and I nudged him in the shoulder. "That was a joke, Liam."
"You should join the choir at your new school if it's something you like doing."
"I don't know. We'll see."
"Why do you say that?"
I looked at him, wondering his intentions. "You ask a lot of questions."
"Why are you so guarded all the time?"
His question caught me by surprise. It burned. The wall I didn't know existed suddenly teetered and I felt disoriented. My pulse sped up. "I don't know. A lot of things make me nervous. I don't know you. I'd rather just stick to myself, although Ty's cool. No one..." I stopped myself.
"No one what?"
My fingers trembled and I tucked them between my legs. I wanted to scream it, to let him know that I'm being followed, but fear over-road that. It always did, and even though I sat with him so close, I felt alone. No one understood. After the attack, when I first saw them on the edge of the woods, watching me, I would tell my parents. That had gotten me a year of therapy for posttraumatic stress and pills that made me feel half unconscious. I never spoke of it again.
I shook my head. "It's nothing."
"Charlotte, if it's something that bothers you, it's not nothing."
The depth of the conversation made me uncomfortable. The tone of his voice and demeanor, so empathic, tore at my defenses. I hadn't seen this side of him before. He tilted his head to the side as if trying to read me. Funny how that little behavior bothered me in the woods, but it didn't now.
"People don't understand me. I feel different."
He regarded me for a moment and then spoke. "I think I know something about that." He glanced down at his faded jeans and shrugged.
"What do you mean?" His openness, even more disarming then his concern, made my chest tighten. "But you have all those guys in there you hang out with."
His gaze, taut with sincerity, met mine. "I mean other people. That's why we stick together. We're different."
I swallowed hard. "I know," I whispered. The words barely made it past my lips.
Liam's eyes grew wide and his shoulders and arms started to tremble. "How do you know?"
My pulse quickened, but I didn't move. "I can feel it. I don't know what it is about you and your friends, but I can feel it."
Liam slowly tilted his head the other way. He leaned in closer to me and openly inhaled the air around me. His lips parted as a small sigh escaped. I froze to the box. If someone pushed me, I probably would have cracked into a thousand pieces. "You smell so good. The pheromones on you...it doesn't make sense."
Pheromones?
"Who you are?" I asked, my voice barely audible as he continued to lean closer to my neck, smelling me. "What you are?"
He pulled back just enough to speak. "I can't."
"Why?"
"I'm sorry," he whispered. The scent rising from his skin intoxicated my senses and I almost wanted to do the same thing he had just been doing. "I shouldn't be here. I usually have this rule about mingling with...people. I don't know what I'm doing."
"What are you talking about, Liam?" His words made me nervous, but every pore on my body tingled with excitement. His proximity stirred something inside me, something dormant, and very much alive. Flashes of woods snapped by my line of vision, along with the crackle of the rhythmic soft thump of a paws on the fallen leaves. The breath of a wolf pumped onto my tender skin through his sharp teeth as he closed in around me. The others followed after.
I trembled and blinked, bringing reality back to my senses, Liam the only one here.
"There's something about you, Charlotte." His voice lowered with a rough hoarseness. I couldn't seem to breathe as he brushed his cheek gently against mine. I shivered.
"There's something about you too."
Liam shook, as he settled his forehead softly against mine, and closed his eyes. His warm breath on my face too familiar. "No, I mean, you are right. There really is something about you...something different."
I tried to speak, but he pressed his lips to mine. All the air dissipated from my lungs and I grasped onto his frayed shirt to keep from falling over. Logic and instinct tangled in a roaring battle, but at that moment I didn't care. I returned his kiss with a hunger of my own.
Liam's eyes went wide and they instantly pooled gold. What ever had been dormant inside me unbelievably ignored that little fact. I stood up on the box, pressing for more.
"Charlotte?" Liam groaned, his voice so low it sounded more a growl.
I heard something loud rip by the neckline of my shirt where Liam held me. I pulled back, stunned. Looking down at the small neckline, I gasped. Five long tear marks streaked down the fabric on my shoulder. Ice fell over my body and I looked at Liam, too shocked to be terrified. His irises burned amber and a set of long sharp canine teeth protruded past his lips. I didn't know who looked more horrified. He turned away from me and nearly stumbled over a box. His entire body trembled.
I couldn't speak or move as I stared at his back. That couldn't have been real. Cold, numbness gripped my body. I imagined it. My childhood delusions had finally caught up with me. Maybe I did need medication. I tried to swallow, but I couldn't. Nothing in me worked.
"Liam?" My voice trembled and I realize my hands shook. Protectively, I tucked them around my chest.
He didn't respond. His body had become a statue, facing the back wall. Part of me didn't want to know why. "Liam..." I tried again.
"I'm sorry, Charlotte," he said. The low hoarseness, gone, now replaced with a pinched, painful sound. "I shouldn't have kissed you. It was stupid of me to think I could without change..." Liam stopped mid sentence and turned to me. An audible sigh escaped me and I realized I had been holding my breath. His features were normal. I tried to convince myself I imagined it, but Liam blew that theory when he stepped up next to me and reached for the torn material around my shoulder.
"It...it's okay. I'm not hurt. I'm okay."
Liam's fingers froze on my collar bone and his complexion flushed white. Had I said something wrong? I couldn't fathom what. "What? What'd I do?"
"Is this your scar?"
My hand darted to the spot on my shoulder. "Yes, that's my scar. Why? What's wrong? I told you before. It doesn't hurt. It looks a lot worse than it is."
"I don't believe it." His shook his head back and forth. "It can't be. That's impossible. That's..."
Liam's chest rose and fell in short hard gasps as he backed away from me towards the kitchen door. He looked completely freaked. "Liam? Please, what's wrong?"
"I...I have to go."
I took a step towards him and he nearly burst through the kitchen door to get away from me. Everyone stared, even Ty. Eldridge tore himself from the game and joined Liam's side. It hurt. I didn't know what I did or why he was acting like this. I thought he liked me. We just kissed.
The guys moved to the front door with merely a nod from Liam and hurried outside.
"I'm sorry," he said. He looked hesitant, as if he struggled with something, but the fear I saw in his eyes overpowered it. Before I could stop him, he had turned from me, and disappeared into the night.